[SatNews] Eutelsat Communications (Paris:ETL) has sealed a ten year contract with Crystal TV, Ghana's leading commercial broadcaster, for capacity connected to the African service area of the EUTELSAT 16A satellite.

This new capacity enables Crystal TV to benefit from countrywide coverage of Ghana for its digital platform of payTV and Free-To-Air (FTA) channels. Access to EUTELSAT 16A transforms Crystal TV into a nationwide provider of digital broadcast services. The company's current subscription-free premium television content, including its branded channels—Crystal TV Prime, Crystal TV Plus and Crystal TV Xtra—has, until now, been limited to terrestrial reception in Ghana's main urban areas in Accra, the Ashanti Region and parts of the country's Eastern and Central regions.

Artistic rendition of the Eutelsat 16A satellite.

Crystal TV has selected the high-power Sub-Saharan African footprint of the EUTELSAT 16A satellite to extend access to homes beyond range of terrestrial reception. Channels uplinked by Crystal TV to EUTELSAT 16A are available to DTH homes equipped with a digital decoder and an access card for payTV content.

Crystal TV's Chief, Dr. Crystal-Djirackor, said, "Our partnership with Eutelsat is a major milestone in a new phase of digital broadcasting, embracing technology that goes beyond the varied limitations of signal distribution. This is the moment Ghana and Africa have been waiting for—to challenge ourselves as we embrace the future. It is an opportunity to offer unparalleled access to other broadcasters whose mission is to become global players with the support of Crystal's technical facilities. With this Eutelsat partnership and other project partners, we believe the stage is set for Ghana and Africa to accelerate with ease the transition from analog to digital TV."

Rodney Benn, Eutelsat's Regional Vice President for Africa, said, "This new relationship with Crystal TV is further evidence of Eutelsat's ambition to leverage its experience and assets to support the digitization of Africa's TV landscape. Satellite technology is once again showing how it completes and complements terrestrial infrastructure, and is playing a key role in a fundamental shift to digital that brings viewers the benefits of choice and quality. We look forward to sharing our experience of payTV and Free-To-Air platforms with Crystal TV, and to further consolidating our 16 degrees East neighborhood as a major pole in Africa."